DeCloet returns to run Globe and Mail’s business coverage

David Walmsley, editor in chief of the Toronto Globe and Mail, sent out the following announcement to the staff on Wednesday:

To you all,

As events in Brussels make painfully clear, the global story this year is Europe. Because of that, I have asked Paul Waldie, one of my leadership team, to return to the UK as a foreign correspondent.

Paul is an exemplary editor and reporter; a rare breed who has the versatility to own business coverage, as he did so masterfully with his editorship of Report on Business, as well as hard news and sports. His work reporting in Ukraine, at the Sochi Olympics, on the foibles of Westminster political life, Paul’s pen knows no borders.

I first worked with Paul 16 years ago and have always been impressed with his determination to be at the centre of the action.

As I assessed our staffing levels in Europe, it became clear to me I needed to invest in more journalism firepower on the continent and I am delighted that Paul has accepted the opportunity to return to England to work with Mark Mackinnon and Eric Reguly as a European-based foreign correspondent.

It is important to remember the work Paul has accomplished in the near two years he has been at the helm of RoB. When I asked him to leave England two years ago and come back and take on the challenging role of RoB editor, I asked him to make his first priority the stability of the RoB team. It was in a period of unnecessary flux. He did that and then went on to lead the redesign of the newspaper section last May, introducing important new personality to the section including the launch of its first Opinion space.

He has applied sophisticated strategy to the paywall subscriber base that is particularly important to our entire company-business model and has, above all, ensured RoB is at the centre of the business life of Canada. We will organise drinks to say fond bon voyage to Paul in the near future. Please join me in wishing this outstanding journalist success in this next endeavour.

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With Paul moving back to the UK, I am delighted to announce the return of Derek DeCloet to The Globe and Mail. By appointing him Editor of Report on Business and Executive Editor of The Globe and Mail, Derek becomes my number three.

He will assume all responsibility for all aspects of our business coverage and strategy, and will be responsible for ensuring the RoB is always a fortress for intelligent journalism.

In the first weeks on the job, Derek will spend his time talking to staff, reacquainting himself with those he knows, and getting to know those of you he has not yet had the pleasure of working with.

For the past two years, Derek has been head of content for Rogers Media’s publishing arm, leading the editorial group that produces the company’s English-language print magazines and related websites and digital products.

Before moving to Rogers, Derek was at The Globe and Mail from 2003 until 2014 — first as a business reporter, then a columnist in ROB. In the summer of 2009, he became the ROB’s managing editor, then ROB editor three years later.

In 2009, Derek won the National Magazine Award for business writing, one of five NMA nominations he has received for work done in Report on Business Magazine. He also won the Stanley McDowell prize for writing in 2008. He is a graduate of Carleton University’s journalism program. Derek will rejoin us in the near future, with an exact start date to be determined soon.